1/24/2012

Phillip Morris fuses social and political commentary with nerdy humor. His Ten x Ten contribution, "Second Guess", was developed in collaboration with cartoon artist Joe Tallarico. Here Colin and Phillip discuss touring, nerding out, and the Ten x Ten process.

Colin: You just did three shows in Spain. Can you briefly share how the tour came about?

Phillip: The tour actually came about as the result of a much larger tour that was being planned that ended up not happening due to complications. I really only had 2 contacts in Barcelona, one of which was Raquel Delgado...and the other being my boy Jan (aka Delorian) from De La Rue Squad. So despite the setbacks, with only a few weeks of planning we were able to organize 3 shows. 2 shows in Barcelona (Sant Boi & Santa Coloma) and one show in Zaragoza, Spain. All of which were phenomenal.

Colin: Was it your first time performing out of the country? How was the experience there similar or different to performing in your home town?

1/23/2012

Brain Hofmeister and Revise CMW (artwork featured above) are in a group show curated by the monthly live-art spectacle, Atomic Sketch Event.

The show, Atomic Winter Event 2012, will be the first curated show the group has done for Green Eye Lounge.

Normally, each month a panel of established and emerging artists from Chicago – and even visiting artists from around the country – is selected to create original works of art live at the event. These pieces then hang on the walls and sell for extremely affordable prices. Artists whose work priced in the hundreds of dollars often sell work for $10 or $20. Pretty sweet! This format allows artists a great community to network in and art enthusiasts a great way to score real art for affordable prices.

1/16/2012

Add-2 recently premiered his new video for “Cotton Fields” at Okayplayer. It’s a disturbing video, for a powerful song, and shows that Add-2 isn’t afraid to make bold statements. Okayplayer quotes Add describing the visuals as such: “The song and concept of the video is that even though the times may have changed some perceptions haven’t…"

Ten x Ten was started as a way to upend the usual creative economy between Chicago bands and printmakers, namely the one based around show posters. Since then, the project has evolved into a dual-media collaboration between visual artists and musicians that explores ideas of abstraction, the collaborative process, and the translation of artistic gestures across media.